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The exclamation point is for extra informing!

Kim Hollis: The Informant!, a Steven Soderbergh dark comedy starring Matt Damon, opened to $10.5 million. Are you surprised that a couple of key cogs from the Ocean's franchise didn't do better here?

Josh Spiegel: No, I think this is right in line with expectations. If anyone thought that simply sticking the Ocean's titles on the posters along with Matt Damon looking like a big goof would lead to huge numbers, they'd be crazy. Though the movie is certainly far more accessible and lighthearted than most movies by Steven Soderbergh, some people may not be in the mood for such an inherently silly movie, even one that tries (kind of) to show how a big company was brought down by scandal. Granted, the movie is entertaining with an engaging, if uniquely odd, lead performance, but seeing as the budget was only about double this take, I doubt anyone's going to be too disappointed.

Tim Briody: Nope, because this isn't the sort of project that's going to do gangbusters at the box office and opening to $10 million is actually pretty darn good considering.





Pete Kilmer: While I'm sure they were aiming for around $18-22 million, the opening it did is right in line with a small fall film, which is what The Informant! is. It's not Action Matt Damon, nor is it an ensemble Soderbergh romp. Word-of-mouth on this movie should make it a little engine that could in a few weeks.

Reagen Sulewski: Tonally complex films often have a hard time finding an audience, because they're never quite sure what they're getting. That doesn't mean it's a bad film, just hard to sell. In this case, it's The Insider, as a comedy, but not really. It's not the kind of thing you can really pitch to a mass audience. The ads they did produce though, are laser focused on Soderbergh's core audience.

Sean Collier: I'm left thinking of the poster - with no idea how to market it, they just used Matt Damon making a funny face. Considering the difficulty in selling more complex, adult fare, I think everyone involved should be perfectly pleased with this opening. There was really no other way to go with it - selling more of a comedy would've made it out to be more of a laugher than it actually is, and playing up the political/dramatic element is clearly not what they were trying to do. I did think that the commercials could've used a bit more of Damon's narration, as that was the funniest stuff and basically the selling point, but so it goes.

Max Braden: The difference between the Ocean's series and The Informant's sense of comedy is charming vs. nerdy. Charming is naturally going to appeal to a broader audience. Plus the Ocean's series had a multiplier effect of Damon plus Pitt plus Clooney. The Informant! just wasn't going to perform like the other movies. But $10 million is a good opening for this project. I think the heavy advertising from a major studio helped what otherwise would have been a limited release. It beat a horror flick featuring the costar of the biggest movie this year, that's impressive.

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